“Social Exclusion refers to the multiple and changing factors resulting in people being excluded from normal exchanges, practices and rights of modern society. The commission believes that all Community citizens have a right to the respect of human dignity.” (Commission of the European Communities 1993)
There are many issues and dimensions involved in becoming an inclusive society. Therefore definitions of what exactly is meant by social inclusion reflect this diversity. However for the purposes of producing some clarity we utilise the following dimensions and indicators (based on work by Janie Percy-Smith).
| Issue / Dimension | Indicators |
|---|---|
| Economic |
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| Social |
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| Political |
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| Locality |
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| Individual |
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| Groups / Diversity |
|
Increasingly Organisations, Businesses and Corporations have become aware of the social aspects and the social outcomes of their activities and performance.
As time goes on, more and more Businesses are realising the influence, the questioning power and pressure stakeholders have over their company. By taking responsibility for the social impact of their organisation on the stakeholders (customers, suppliers, landlords, clients, staff, managers, shareholders etc) Businesses can benefit significantly by embracing Social Inclusion as a way to increase its Business success and profit (the life blood of the economy) not as something that just has to be done. The mandatory approach where it fits into an existing structure is not a recipe for success. Social Inclusion makes good business sense and should be an integral part of the organisation. Social inclusion strategies have to:
- Form a part of the mission
- Be a part of the vision
- Be accepted by Board of Directors (or equivalent)
- Integrate into policies and procedures
- Include taking action within the organisation
- Be understood and practiced organisationally wide
- An iterative processes accepting never ending improvement as a concept
Businesses need to engage with Social Inclusion and leverage out the proven benefits some organisations have enjoyed e.g.
- Increasing retention of staff
- Having better recruitment practices
- Increasing your staff’s well-being and hence performance
- Opening up channels of communication to stakeholders
- Increasing levels of creativity within the workforce
- Attracting more clients/customers (niche marketing eg., disabled people)
- Meeting legislative obligations (inoculation against legal proceedings being carried out against businesses)
- Better supplier relationships
- Reduced costs
- Increase profit
The process for achieving the above benefits is through our range of services, (the social audit in particular). The size of the organisation will dictate the amount of benefits it will enjoy, however, we make it our duty to be able to work with organisations at any level of awareness or size.